Seeking Guitar Teachers

We realize with a high speed affordable MIDI guitar like ours it opens up a whole new world with your budding guitarists. We want everyone to play numerous guitars and enjoy acoustics and electrics galore. We also understand that new guitarists are often coming from gaming and to them just having to tune a $150 guitar can be a lesson in patience like no other.  We want to help. (Our guitar never needs tuning)  Please let us know about yourself and how we can help you.  info@inspired.com

Also see what Berklee performance grad, author, teacher Karl Aranjo has to say.

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E3 is this week – You Rock Guitar

Inspired Instruments introduces the world’s first all digital guitar that is a musical instrument a video game controller and a hi-speed USB/MIDI controller.

Los Angeles – June 2009 – Inspired Instruments, Inc. announced the introduction of its hybrid guitar the ‘You Rock Guitar’ designed specifically for those who want to migrate from video games like Rock Band and Guitar hero to playing real guitar music. The You Rock Guitar’s patented technology bridges the gap between rhythm based video games and real music.

According to Kevin Kent, CEO of Inspired Instruments “The transition between video games and real music performance has been elusive and real holy grail for the millions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band players who want to step out of the game box and onto a real stage.  Playability must be immediate.  Never having to tune the guitar is essential.  The feature set must include incredible sounds and game-like fun in the jamming. The integration of multiple levels of technology makes the You Rock Guitar the most advanced game and music controller in history – all at an incredible value. This is guitar 2.0”

Precision Musical Instrument – Guitar Mode

The Your Rock Guitar is the perfect complement to any guitar-player’s collection, adding fun, convenience, versatility, and range.  It never requires stringing and never goes out of tune, perfect for the first time player.  It connects to your existing amplifier for jamming sessions, or headphones for quiet time. Its USB interface connects to MP3 players & cell phones, so you can record & playback on an iPod or phone.  The same connectivity makes the perfect companion for computer programs like Garage Band on Mac or Cakewalk on Windows™. So it’s a great learning tool for those just getting started, or casual players looking to improve. The guitar’s connectivity makes it an incredible platform.

For gamers and first time guitar players, the “You Rock Mode” auto-corrects finger positioning mistakes and digitally filters out wrong notes, making you sound like a real rocker from beat one. It encourages a player to practice and learn the guitar while playing.   It takes you from a simple A-chord jam and then migrates you through the chord progressions that changed the world of rock and roll.  These chord progressions are the building blocks for creating music and being able to jamming with your friends.  The USB/MIDI controls are fast enough for professional studio song writing, sequencing, and professional composition.  The built-in sampled guitar sounds are 16 bit and include acoustics and electrics, over ten thousand dollars worth of great guitars. They will keep you rocking all day and night no matter what your mood is; Stratocasters, clean and electric same for Les Paul’s, acoustics, 12 strings, even a 12 string Rickenbacker, some great rock and punk guitars, even power chords and mutes.

“What’s amazing about the You Rock Guitar is that it grows with you.  I’m no musician, but have always wanted to play.  This product is so much fun, it seamlessly improves my playing skills.  That’s why we say; Have fun, Music will happen!”  says, JR deSouza, Inspired’s VP of Marketing & Business Development.

Video Game Controller – Game Mode

The YOU ROCK GUITAR’S GAMEFLEX™ plug-in cartridges allow a single guitar to connect to any of the video game consoles; Nintendo Wii, Xbox360, or Sony’s PlayStation, making it compatible with ROCK BAND™ and GUITAR HERO™ games, and helping protect your investment against obsolescence as new games & consoles come to market.  The You Rock Guitar picks up where today’s products reach their limits.  It eliminates the barriers that exist between the video game & music worlds.  And as game developers & publisher take advantage of this new platform they’ll be able to develop games that exploit musical gaming with no boundaries.

Cliff Elion, President of Inspired Instruments states “Gaming requires something beyond a MIDI guitar, in fact, you cannot play any of the popular console music games with a MIDI guitar, that’s why we invented the multi-touch fret board technology. The future of music gaming can now be in your hands.”

Market Availability

The product will be available online and at retail stores across the country in the fall of 2009.

YOU ROCK GUITAR – Pre-production proto-types will shown at booth 407 at the E3 show, June 2-4^th, 2009.

About Inspired Instruments

Inspired Instruments is dedicated to providing customers with innovation at every opportunity, real music for real gamers. You Rock Guitar is the registered trademark of Inspired Instruments, Inc.

Music is About Fun – a la YOU ROCK MODE

No rulers across the wrist here, no boring repetitive droning of your scales and tabs.  The great thing about getting into Guitar Hero and Rock Band  is that you “feel” the emotional impact of performing. OK, you only end up with some very fast rhythm experience, but your long way from really rocking.  And let’s face it, it’s not any fun playing on an out-of-tune electric guitar, or crashing though some bad partial riffs and misfinger chords.

So what if there was a way to NEVER have to tune the guitar and what if you could go into a mode where you could only play the correct frets for the chords you were jamming to?  Guess what my young Padawan?That’s exactly what we did with the You Rock Guitar.

First, you never need to tune a You Rock Guitar.
Second, in the You Rock Mode jamming with our loops, we map the frets out so you can literally run your fingers up and down or if you want to really get to rockin,  you learn the main patterns and pentatonic riffs that every guitar player needs to know. It’s all about muscle memory and we make that part fun. Here comes guitar 2.0.

Doug Morton, Audio Guru – Powers up the Guitar

Since 1982, Doug Morton has been spinning heads, CD’s and chips when it comes to digital audio. Doug’s company Q-Up Arts is one of the stalwarts in the sampling industry. Now, Doug Morton and Kevin Kent are working together again for the first time in years. Doug and Kevin worked together at E-Mu and a few years later Doug helped Kevin master his solo piano CD, recorded at the Record Plant Recording studios. Doug got the once over from Cliff on the tool kits for the custom chips that make up the audio portion of the You Rock Guitar, the three have been pounding away at the sounds since February. Session after session, one guitar after the other, the boys have finally settled in on their top guitars for the sound library built into the You Rock Guitar.

Inspired Instruments, Inc. announced the introduction of its hybrid guitar the ‘You Rock Guitar’ designed specifically for those who want to migrate from video games like Rock Band and Guitar hero to playing real guitar music. The You Rock Guitar’s patented technology bridges the gap between rhythm based video games and real music.

According to Kevin Kent, CEO of Inspired Instruments “The transition between video games and real music performance has been elusive and real holy grail for the millions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band players who want to step out of the game box and onto a real stage.  Playability must be immediate.  Never having to tune the guitar is essential.  The feature set must include incredible sounds and game-like fun in the jamming. The integration of multiple levels of technology makes the You Rock Guitar the most advanced game and music controller in history – all at an incredible value. This is guitar 2.0”

Inspired Instruments, Inc. is proud to announce that prestigious sound designer and composer, Doug Morton has agreed to produce the sounds and music for its breakthrough new product, the You Rock Guitar.  The You Rock Guitar will include custom internal sounds, including such classics and Les Pauls’, Stratocasters, Telecasters, Hamer’s, ES335’s, Washburn Acoustics,  12 Strings, and some metal and grunge and punk guitars that will melt the paint off your walls. Morton states, “We’re putting in about 20 grand worth of guitars in this thing, its a game changer, its rock and roll.”

The You Rock Guitar, is not just a controller for such hit games as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but it’s separates the rockers from the wanna-be’s because it is also a fully functional live performance instrument. It has both stereo mini-out for use with an iPod and ¼ hi-impedance output for plugging right into your guitar amp or mixer.

The world’s best guitar sounds included

Morton has promised realistic acoustic guitars ranging from Punk grunge to screaming Les Paul leads as well as nylon, steel and 12 strings, but Doug’s specialty is outrageous electric guitars. “They called it You Rock Guitar, that was the mission. This has been an outrageous project starting with the sampling sessions to modeling the sounds and recording the loops to spec. The only problem is it all sounds so cool, I spend way too much time playing once I get a great sound, and hey, I got a deadline!”

he Chord Progressions That Changed the World and the “You Rock Mode”

Every new guitar player needs to learn and play some basic chord progressions so they can jam with their friends. Start with just two chards then three chords and then on to the major blues in 12 and 16 bars.  And if that’s not cool enough, how about “You Rock Mode” where you can run your fingers up and down the frets without ever making a mistake.  Learn the solo and pentatonic modes by playing, not studying some dry charts. This mode lets you play like a real rock star with the background tracks blazing away. Have Fun, Rock will happen.

According to Kevin Kent, CEO of Inspired Instruments “Doug and I first worked together almost 25 years ago. His work and quality speaks for itself, and when you get your hands on a You Rock Guitar and just play the sounds and music, you just may forget that you bought a real electric guitar that doubles as a game controller.  This instrument will take you and your family to new levels of music entertainment.

Kent, goes on to say “Having Doug produce the sound library and music says one thing about the You Rock Guitar… it will rock.  He is a good friend and at the top of his game, there is no better person in the world to develop these sounds.”  

To hear just a few of the guitars and You Rock sound loops:

Why did we call it “YOU ROCK GUITAR?”

With Guitar Hero, you felt like a real guitar hero within the first ten minutes you started playing. With Rock Band, you joined the band. How cool was that?  Now, just a few short years later, there are 35 million gamers out there wanting to know what’s next. They want to really play. They want to Rock. They want to play guitar. 

With the You Rock Guitar in “You Rock” mode, YOU will really ROCK in the first 5 minutes of play. We guarantee it. And you won’t be out of tune, and you won’t be playing any wrong notes. And all that time playing rhythm only games will pay off in metal, punk, blues and rock and roll and in fact– YOU WILL ROCK!